Two NASA astronauts, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who have spent nine months on the International Space Station, are set to begin their journey back to Earth early Tuesday morning. They will be joined by two other astronauts as they undock from the ISS at 1:05 a.m. ET to start a 17-hour trip home, with a planned splashdown off the Florida coast at 5:57 p.m. ET the same day.
Wilmore and Williams had originally flown Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft in a test flight in June, but due to issues with the craft’s propulsion system, NASA decided it was too risky to bring them back using Starliner. Instead, they were included in the agency’s Crew-9 mission, joining NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov.
Originally scheduled for Wednesday night, the return trip was moved up to Tuesday due to concerns about unfavorable weather later in the week. This mission has been marked by its unusual circumstances, and the astronauts are now gearing up for their long-awaited journey back to Earth.
